


Still Serendipity

by StarlightOnInk



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, AmeRus - Freeform, College, Drama, Fluff and Angst, Hetalia, Human AU, M/M, Romance, RusAme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 06:24:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11617806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightOnInk/pseuds/StarlightOnInk
Summary: It almost frightened him how easily they could have never interacted. Ivan began attending astronomy club, helping with ideas for field trips or events, and just generally renewing Alfred's excitement and faith that maybe not all interest in space was lost forever. Ivan even talked Alfred into choosing Russian as his foreign language requirement- a choice he had put off too long already. Next semester, he would be taking Russian with one of the best tutors available.Next semester, Ivan would not be there.





	Still Serendipity

**Still Serendipity**

They had first met in the rain.

Life had not been kind to Alfred that day, at least not until that point. One of his professors had sprung an exam on his class that had supposedly been announced weeks ago- though all of his fellow classmates swore they had never been informed- and it was his tirade after the test that was overheard by said professor. Sure his grade was ruined, Alfred had been in a slump for the next hour, which unfortunately required him to make an important presentation. A group presentation. His partners had not been thrilled.

Now he was seeking comfort in the bottom of a Styrofoam cup, his morose figure reflected back at him in the piping hot brown liquid. The heat from the drink fought off some of the cold from the rain- he had not thought to bring an umbrella- but it did little to shake the chills from his spirit. Glasses fogged from something other than heat from the coffee, Alfred decided to move to where the weather reflected his mood; he marched outside. Shivering against the wet bullets peppering his face, he was fully prepared for a slow trek back to his dorm.

But then the rain stopped.

No…no, that was not quite right; the rain had not stopped. Rather, it was blocked. Alfred blinked, blue eyes darting around. Beside him stood one of the largest humans he had ever encountered. A shock of beige hair framed a handsome rounded face atop broad shoulders and massive chest, standing almost a foot taller than Alfred. Violet eyes sparkled like gems beneath the bangs clinging to his forehead, dampened from the humidity.

"That is how you catch cold," the stranger said thickly, adjusting his umbrella to better cover Alfred.

"Ah, dude, man, put it back over yourself, I'm fine-"

"This is nothing," the stranger cut in, a small smile playing across his features. Alfred thought it impossible for him to be anymore handsome, but the presence of that smile proved him wrong. "And I dress warmer," he added, tugging at his own thick coat.

"Ah. Right."

Silence followed, perhaps for only a minute, or perhaps for a day, as the rain hounded at them relentlessly.

"Is that good?" the young man asked, pointing a long thick finger at Alfred's forgotten coffee.

"What? Oh! Eh, not the worst thing ever." He chuckled. So did the stranger. It was a nice sound, hearty and deep, something one could never tire of hearing. It forged lovely little crinkles in the corner of the man's eyes and set his cheek bones into further focus. His nose also scrunched rather cutely; it was a nice nose. Large. It was around then that Alfred realized he was staring. Heat rising in his cheeks, he quickly looked away, focused on the drenched campus around them, at his shoes, at the puddles forming, anything to not get lost in those violet stars.

"Ivan Braginsky," the man introduced, extending his free hand. Alfred shook it promptly.

"Alfred F. Jones at your service!" Apparently something in his toothy grin pleased Ivan, for his smile became more bashful and color rose in his cheeks Alfred was sure was not from the chilly air nipping at them.

No, one easy conversation on the way back to the dorms later, Alfred and Ivan found themselves quite enchanted. Alfred learned that Ivan was relatively new to the state, almost as new as he was to the country. He was enrolled in an astronomy class, a different time than Alfred's, but with the same professor. Having recognized Ivan's enthusiasm for the subject, the professor had suggested he join the astronomy club, for which Alfred happened to be in charge of advertising.

"I see the posters everywhere with your email but wanted to talk in person," Ivan informed him as they got themselves comfortable on one of the couches of the student lounge. "Only today did one of my friends mention they know you." That had been a rather surprising conversation, actually. Toris had been concerned that one of his partners for a group presentation had been rather down. When asked, he explained how he was working with Alfred.

"Oh, god, that nightmare." A roll of the eyes. "I'm glad that's behind me."

Hours passed with them just making conversation, broken only as the other averted their gaze, losing themselves in seas of sapphire or violet. They had not even realized they had been inching slowly closer and closer until their knees were bumping and fingertips brushing. Awkward touches and nervous laughter turned into an equally awkward invitation to meet up again after classes tomorrow, or anytime in between. An agreement was happily arranged, and both went to their dorms with butterflies.

Alfred became more aware of Ivan's presence as time went on. Looking back, he figured he should have realized how often they crossed paths before then, but now suddenly it was truly dawning on him just how often they saw each other. It almost frightened him how easily they could have never interacted. Ivan began attending astronomy club, helping with ideas for field trips or events, and just generally renewing Alfred's excitement and faith that maybe not all interest in space was lost forever. Ivan even talked Alfred into choosing Russian as his foreign language requirement- a choice he had put off too long already. Next semester, he would be taking Russian with one of the best tutors available.

Next semester, Ivan would not be there.

It started with sad looks, sad smiles, and sad farewells. Their first kiss, Ivan had looked at him with such tenderness Alfred was sure his heart would burst from his chest. But his eyes had held the kind of longing a man bears only when he knows how futile his want is. It was the kind of knowledge that made everything seem in vain.

Nevertheless, Ivan still looked, still smiled, still said farewell. It was his thinness that next caught Alfred's attention. Once a hulking bear of a man, Ivan almost seemed to be wilting. His lovely platinum locks seemed dull, drooping, less pronounced. He was winded easier, needing to pause after climbing the stairs to Alfred's floor, almost gasping for air after a prolonged kiss as a drowning man might fight to fill his lungs just one more time. Alfred asked about it. Oh, Alfred asked about it. Eventually, Ivan's looks of guilt and despair yielded to a steady flow of tears. A moment later they were wrapped in each other's arms as Ivan confessed to him the news.

Ivan was dying.

Oh, it would have been so easy to lose himself to his grief. So easy to hone in on the horrid emotions just yearning to burst through, to stain his face with salty rain, carving out his heart and leaving it to rot, beyond emotion. It would have been so easy…

But it was Ivan who needed him, needed his positivity, his love. And so Alfred meticulously kissed away every accursed tear that fell from those beautiful violet pools, ran his fingers through his platinum hair, trying to imagine them again as the fluffy locks they had been, and smiled when Ivan could not. This was something he couldn't stop; for all his notions of heroics and good triumphing in the end, there was no villain to beat up and lock away. There were only Ivan's cells multiplying and destroying him from within. How, how could such a gorgeous being be plagued by his own self, haunted by what had been the shell of a beautiful human?

Ivan apologized again and again for having become so involved with Alfred- not out of regret for himself, but for Alfred. It was not until recently that he had discovered his ailment, and being with Alfred had been his greatest taste of life's wonders. Alfred had merely nipped at his earlobe and muttered "Next time you say sorry it's gonna be your nose." He had made good on his promise, causing Ivan to stare wide-eyed at him, eventually letting out a nervous chuckle that morphed into a tearful bout of laughter.

That had been their last date together before Ivan needed to be hospitalized. Then, all talk was done from his bedside, Alfred shuffling in and out as Ivan's parents and sisters came and went, sometimes sitting with them or else bowing out so as not to crowd Ivan.

Alfred had not been there when Ivan flatlined. He only needed to answer his phone and hear Ivan's sister's painful sobbing to know what had happened. He had gone to the hospital anyway, and sat beside Ivan's bed cradling the bony hand, rubbing reassuring circles into it and telling the empty shell how grateful he was to know him. All the while, his heart was flooded with regret and longing…the kind of longing a man bears only when he knows how futile his want is. It was the kind of knowledge that made everything seem in vain…

They could have been so much more.

How much time had been wasted…

 _His bangs are all messed up_ , Alfred thought in alarm, gently brushing them back to how Ivan always wore them. There. Better. "That's right, yeah?" Alfred's last day of winter break was spent telling Ivan that all would be okay, that Alfred was here, he would never leave, that they would work things out, don't you dare apologize.

His language lessons had gone on just long enough for Alfred to make his final statement to Ivan at the funeral. With the eyes of Ivan's family boring into his back, Alfred laid a bouquet of twelve sunflowers down and muttered:

_Do svidanya, Vanya. Ya ochen tebya lyublyu._

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a word prompt, "dying," that I realized approximately six-hundred words too late I could have gone with a less literal interpretation of. End me.
> 
> I chose the title of this (after using a filler one for the longest time) because serendipity is a positive event that occurs by chance; our lives are full of small ones and big ones alike, including love. Despite the heartache involved in this instance, joy was still felt- and love- making it an experience worth embracing.


End file.
